Sunday, September 30, 2012

Here is The Qwillery's list of books, etc. being published in Octoberr 2012.
If there is something that I've missed, please leave a comment below.
Any genre mistakes are mine. Leave a comment below if you feel that the
genre is wrong. Also note that this list is always under revision.
Publication dates change. I try to keep this as accurate as possible.
The most accurate lists can be found for each week in The View From
Monday posts.

When
the nanny to the young Darrow boys is found mysteriously murdered on
the outskirts of the village of Blackfield, Charlotte Markham, the
recently hired governess, steps in to take over their care. During an
outing in the forest, they find themselves crossing over into The
Ending, "the place for the Things Above Death," where Lily Darrow, the
late mother of the children, has been waiting. She invites them into the
House of Darkling, a wondrous place filled with enchantment, mystery,
and strange creatures that appear to be, but are not quite, human.

However, everything comes with a price, and as Charlotte begins to
understand the unspeakable bargain Mrs. Darrow has made for a second
chance at motherhood, she uncovers a connection to the sinister
occurrences in Blackfield and enters into a deadly game with the master
of Darkling—one whose outcome will determine the fate of not just the
Darrows but the world itself.

Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling is a Victorian Gothic tale about family ties, the realm beyond the living, and the price you pay to save those you love.

Jane Yellowrock is a shapeshifting skinwalker you don’t want to cross—especially if you’re one of the undead…

For a vampire killer like Jane, having Leo Pellisier as a boss took some getting used to. But now, someone is out to take his place as Master Vampire of the city of New Orleans, and is not afraid to go through Jane to do it. After an attack that’s tantamount to a war declaration, Leo knows his rival is both powerful and vicious, but Leo’s not about to run scared. After all, he has Jane. But then, a plague strikes, one that takes down vampires and makes their masters easy prey.

Now, to uncover the identity of the vamp who wants Leo’s territory, and to find the cause of the vamp-plague, Jane will have to go to extremes…and maybe even to war.

Holding his eyes, I slid the tote strap around my shoulders, shoved it back out of the way, and walked straight toward him. Keeping loose. Letting Beast bleed into my bloodstream and into my eyes. My heart rate sped as her adrenaline pumped into my body. His blue eyes widened. Beast-fast, I swerved right, forcing him to move cross-hand. And back left, into his personal space. I body-slammed him. Hard. Hooked his ankle as he shifted and shoved.

The gun went off. Wild shot. Toward the ceiling. I caught his gun hand, flipped him, and landed one knee in the middle of his spine with all my weight. Took his gun away while he tried to remember how to breathe. Banged his head on the floor so hard he had to see stars.

Fun, Beast thought. More!

The shadow over me shifted. I lifted my eyes. Nikki-Babe was standing over me, still vamped out, blocking the light. Fangs latched down, claws out, waiting. If I really tried to hurt the stranger, he’d kill me, and I didn’t know why. Ignoring the looming shadow, I leaned in and sniffed. Blue Eyes smelled of witchy-power, not his own, but something he had obtained from a powerful witch or coven—probably an amulet of some sort. The witchy stench nearly overrode the blood-signature scent of his master, but not quite. It was a vamp-scent I recognized. The undertang made me hesitate, but only for a moment. For now the amulet was more important. Whatever spell he had was underneath him, inactivated, and I had better keep it that way. I pulled his arms back and secured them with a zip strip. Then added three more strips. He was a blood-servant to someone very powerful, with a witchy charm on his person. I wasn’t taking chances.

Also in the Jane Yellowrock series:

About Faith Hunter

Faith Hunter, fantasy writer, was born in Louisiana and raised all over the south. The Skinwalker series, featuring Jane Yellowrock is taking off like a rocket with Skinwalker, Blood Cross, Mercy Blade, Raven Cursed, and Death’s Rival. Her Rogue Mage novels, a dark, urban fantasy series—Bloodring, Seraphs, and Host—feature Thorn St. Croix, a stone mage in a post-apocalyptic, alternate reality, urban fantasy world. These novels are the basis for the role playing game, Rogue Mage (2012).

Under the pen name Gwen Hunter, she writes action-adventure, mysteries, and thrillers. As Faith and Gwen, she has 20+ books in print in 28 countries.

Hunter fell in love with reading in fifth grade, and best loved SiFi, fantasy, and gothic. She decided to become a writer in high school, when a teacher told her she had talent. Now, she writes full-time and works full-time in a hospital lab, (for the benefits) tries to keep house, and is a workaholic with a passion for travel, jewelry making, white-water kayaking, and writing. She and her husband love to RV, traveling with their dogs to whitewater rivers all over the Southeast.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Please welcome Lee Collins to The Qwillery as part of the 2012 Debut Author Challenge Guest Blogs. Lee's debut, The Dead of Winter, will be published on October 30th in the US and Canada and on November 1 in the United Kingdon.

“Weird West is Weird”

I had no idea weird West was even a genre (or sub-genre, or genre affiliate, or whatever) until after I’d completed the manuscript for The Dead of Winter. The idea of putting monsters in a tale of six guns and outlaws seemed perfectly natural, one that had surely been done many times before. We’ve been putting monsters, magic, and machina into interesting time periods and calling it historical sci-fi/fantasy for a good while now. The Old West is an interesting time period; surely it’s been given its share of monsters. The resulting books go right next to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, probably. If a book is decent, it will find a place on bookstore shelves.

Oh, the naïve arrogance of innocence.

I first realized that weird West might not be as big a cup of tea as I originally thought when I started shopping around for agents. Marketed as “a blend of fantasy, horror, and thriller set in the American Old West,” the manuscript had a difficult time dodging the various “we do not represent” criteria listed on agency websites. Fantasy, horror, no Westerns. Historical fantasy, yes; horror, no. Hours of reading slush pile rejection stories deterred me from dropping a label because I didn’t want to be one of those aspiring authors who didn’t read the submission guidelines. Form rejections and non-responders piled up, leaving me sullen, bitter, and ready to move on to greener pastures. Had Angry Robot not thrown open its doors to unagented authors in March 2011, Cora Oglesby might never have stumbled through the saloon’s batwing doors into the light of day.

Once I finally learned what The Dead of Winter should be called, I read through the Wikipedia article on weird West with a growing sense of confusion. The list of related works was short and featured far more movies than novels. Why could the infinite fandom knowledge of the Internet only come up with a score of books that fell into this genre? Aren’t the rich mythologies of American Indian tribes every bit as worthy of exploration as the legend of King Arthur or the wardrobe preferences of 19th-century England? Weird West is as open and endless as the prairie, as cold and foreboding as the Rocky Mountains, as merciless and deadly as the Great Salt Flats. Stories lie beneath its rugged surface, waiting to be mined and smelted into fantastic new shapes.

Yet these riches remain largely untouched, and I can’t fathom why. Have the legions of Spaghetti Westerns marched the setting of the Old West into a farcical grave? Do the arid landscapes of Arizona and New Mexico clash with traditional ideas of faeries, elves, and nature-infused magic? Whatever the reason, I challenge new and established authors alike to take a second, serious look at this criminally-underexplored sub-genre. The Dead of Winter is just one of thousands of stories that could flourish in the Great American Desert. I know I had a fantastic time exploring those frigid peaks and dusty streets, searching for ancient beasts and nuggets of culture and lore. There’s plenty for everybody, so cinch up your saddlebags, strap on your six gun, and see what magicks and monsters await you in that untamed frontier.

All this from a guy who is planning to set his next series in Soviet Russia.

When the marshal of Leadville, Colorado, comes across a pair of mysterious deaths, he turns to Cora to find the creature responsible. But if Cora is to overcome the unnatural tide threatening to consume the small town, she must first confront her own tragic past as well as her present.

A stunning supernatural novel that will be quickly joined by a very welcome sequel, She Returns From War, in February 2013.

Lee Collins has spent his entire life in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. Despite this (or perhaps because of it), he generally prefers to stay indoors reading and playing video games. As a child, he never realized that he could create video games for a living, so he chose to study creative writing at Colorado State University. Upon graduation, he worked as an editorial intern for a local magazine before securing a desk job with his alma mater.

Lee’s short fiction has appeared in Ensorcelled and Morpheus Tales, the latter of which awarded him second place in a flash fiction contest. In 2009, a friend challenged him to participate in National Novel Writing Month, and the resulting manuscript became his debut novel, The Dead of Winter. It will be published in 2012, and the sequel She Returns From War arrives in 2013.

In his spare minutes between writing and shepherding graduate students at his day job, Lee still indulges in his oldest passions: books and video games. He and his girlfriend live in Colorado with their imaginary corgi Fubsy Bumble. You can track him down online via Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Please welcome Jill Archer to The Qwillery as part of the 2012 Debut Author Challenge Interviews. Dark Light of Day (Noon Onyx 1) was published on September 25, 2012. You may read Jill's Guest Blog - A Post-Apocalyptic Novel without Zombies, Robots, Aliens, Dystopia, the Plague or Even a Recent War- here.

TQ: Welcome to The Qwillery.

Jill: Thank you! I'm happy to be here.

TQ: What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Jill: My editor pointed out that I was overly fond of using dog metaphors in my writing. Until she mentioned it, I hadn't realized! Sure enough, I ran a search. Clearly, I love comparing people to pooches and demons to dogs. (I've since reduced the number of dog metaphors in DLOD).

TQ: Who are some of your favorite writers? Who do you feel has influenced your writing?

Jill: I'm a plotter, although I always give myself permission to create new characters or explore different plot directions. Neither the ending of Dark Light of Day nor the second book in the series is the ending I originally planned. So far, my books have been too detailed for me to be a pantser, but I can't deny myself the thrill of discovery that comes with being open to story possibilities I didn't see at the start of a project.

TQ: What is the most challenging thing for you about writing?

Jill: All of it. That's not to say I don't enjoy it, but I wonder if I'll ever be able to say that attempting to produce a 100,000 word novel with characters readers can be passionate about, settings that are imaginative yet believable, and plots that are as surprising as they are satisfying isn't challenging every step of the way! :-D

TQ: How did practicing law prepare you for writing novels? Or not!

Jill: Most of my ten years in practice was spent doing transactional work, not litigation. That means when I wasn't in meetings or on the phone, I was drafting documents -- inch-thick, single-spaced documents. The kind that take forever to finish. The kind that take a team of people to get just right. The kind that go back and forth between the involved parties multiple times. The kind with looming deadlines, lots of stress, but immeasurable satisfaction once they are complete. So, in a way, those ten years were prepping me for novel writing! (But now I get to double space).

Jill: A 21 year old post-grad magic user must choose between death or training to become a demon peacekeeper.

TQ: What inspired you to write Dark Light of Day?

Jill: Noon Onyx is very loosely inspired by the librarian Evelyn "Evie" Carnahan from the movie, The Mummy. Some years ago, while I was still practicing law, I sat next to a librarian during a writer's event. We each commiserated with the other about how dull we felt our day jobs were, a feeling each of us couldn't believe the other had. It led to a discussion about Evie's character and I got the idea to see if I could somehow create a similarly bookish lawyer character who lived in some sort of "otherworld."

TQ: What sort of research did you do for Dark Light of Day?

Jill: All kinds. There was the legal research, of course. Although I didn't obsessively concern myself with legal accuracy (demons and due process don't always mix), I wanted to use enough legal terminology to establish the "school of demon law" milieu I was trying to create. That said, no one needs a law degree to read the book! Necessary meaning can be derived from context. (The real story is Noon's emotional journey). I researched antique apple varieties to create the ensorcelled Empyr wines. That was fun! And I researched all sorts of demons and deities from around the world, as well as various religious myths and holidays. I played fast and loose with most of it. I tend to use research as an inspirational springboard.

TQ: Who was the easiest character to write and why? Hardest and why?

Jill: Noon Onyx was the easiest character to write. Since the book's written in first person, I'd be worried if she wasn't my answer to this question! I think if your character's perspective is hard to write from, or you don't identify with them for whatever reason, writing in first person would be doubly hard. That said, writing in first person is challenging because your main character's not going to be present for every single story event. And you have to work extra hard at showing what the other characters might be thinking or feeling (something I enjoy knowing as a reader).

Noon's parents were difficult to write at first. I get them more now that I've spent more time with the story, but when I was first fleshing things out it was difficult for me to relate to parents that acted the way they did.

Jill: Hmm... that's a tough one. I think there's something different to love in each. But I will say I loved how the Barrister's Ball sequence turned out. There's also a small twist to the climax of the book that made me hoot out loud when I first thought of it. (I thought, "I can't write that--!" and then I knew I *had* to!) And the emotional note of the very last scene of the book, to me, is pitch perfect.

TQ: What's next?

Jill: Book #2 is currently scheduled for a spring release -- May 2013. My plan for each book is new assignments, new adventures, and new adversaries. In book #2, some characters will return, some new ones will be introduced, and Noon will get her first field assignment.

TQ: Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Jill: Thanks for having me, Sally! I appreciated having a chance to share more about Noon Onyx and Dark Light of Day with your readers.

Armageddon
is over. The demons won. And yet somehow…the world has continued.
Survivors worship patron demons under a draconian system of tributes
and rules. These laws keep the demons from warring among themselves,
the world from slipping back into chaos.

Noon Onyx grew up on the banks of the river Lethe, daughter of a
prominent politician, and a descendant of Lucifer’s warlords. Noon has a
secret—she was born with waning magic, the dark, destructive, fiery
power that is used to control demons and maintain the delicate peace
among them. But a woman with waning magic is unheard of and some will
consider her an abomination.

Noon is summoned to attend St. Lucifer’s, a school of demon law. She
must decide whether to declare her powers there…or attempt to continue
hiding them, knowing the price for doing so may be death. And once she
meets the forbiddingly powerful Ari Carmine—who suspects Noon is
harboring magic as deadly as his own—Noon realizes there may be more at
stake than just her life.

Raised
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jill earned a bachelor of science from
Penn State University and later moved to Baltimore to attend the
University of Baltimore School of Law, where she graduated magna cum
laude. She went on to practice law as a “dirt lawyer” for ten years,
specializing in real estate law, municipal development, commercial
leasing, and anything involving exceedingly lengthy legalese-like
contractual monstrosities.

Jill now lives in rural Maryland with her two children and husband, who
is a recreational pilot. Weekends are often spent flying around in the
family’s small Cessna, visiting tiny un-towered airfields and other
local points of interest.

What: One commenter will win a copy of Dark Light of Day (Noon Onyx 1) from The Qwillery.

How: Answer the following question:

What is one of your favorite stories featuring demons?

Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1) Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2) Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you
mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry.
You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on
Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

There are a total of 3 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry),
Follower (+1 entry) and Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry). This is
subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook or Twitter mentions. You MUST leave a way to contact you.

Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing
address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Friday, October 5, 2012. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase
necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

Richard: Hmmmm … I’m constantly reading aloud. Is that odd? I’ll read a sentence over and over again, listening to the rhythm of the syllables. I’ll change a word and read it again; I’ll read it in context, and then read through the whole chapter. Then again. Sometimes I’ll read it into a recorder and play it back. And if I’m being productive, I won’t call it a day until my voice is hoarse and my throat is raw. (Luckily, I seldom work at the local coffee shop.)

TQ: Who are some of your favorite writers? Who do you feel has influenced your writing?

Richard: That’s a pretty long and constantly-shifting list. Raymond Chandler, Samuel R. Delany, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Stephen King, and William Gibson are all major influences. But the most recent writer I went all “fan boy” over would have to be Gail Carriger. I absolutely adore her Parasol Protectorate series, and I’ve been recommending it to everyone – it’s so much fun, and a type of writing I don’t think I could ever manage!

TQ: Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Richard: I guess I’m a mixture of the two. I can generally see the big things on the horizon – the action climax, the way a relationship is probably going to work out – but I usually don’t know how I’m going to get there. Most of the time, I’ll be able to see about two chapters into the future, and that’s it.

That can be scary at times – not knowing where you’re going – but I think it’s fun to dig yourself into a deep, dark hole and then try to dig your way back out. That’s when you stumble upon all of the most awesome and unexpected things.

TQ: What is the most challenging thing for you about writing?

Richard: Probably working at a reasonable speed. I tend to obsess over sentences and words, rewriting and rewriting and rewriting until I’m absolutely happy. That means it can take me weeks or months to finish a single chapter. I’m hoping that my pace will pick up as I get more experience and confidence.

TQ: Describe Bad Glass in 140 characters or less.

Richard: An aspiring photographer sets out to document the unexplained horrors in a quarantined city. He faces the inexplicable & fights to survive.

TQ: What inspired you to write Bad Glass?

Richard: I’ve always been a fan of apocalyptic and “weird city” fiction (books like The Stand, or Swan Song, or Viriconium, or Gormenghast), but those things always seemed like such a huge undertaking to me – the world-building, the large cast of characters, the delicate mood. I think, when I sat down to write Bad Glass, I just felt like it was time for me to stop fooling around and start working on something I’d genuinely love. Even if it was big and scary and intimidating.

TQ: What sort of research did you do for Bad Glass?

Richard: Most of my research involved traveling to Spokane, WA (where the novel takes place) and walking the streets on a quiet October afternoon. The weather was gray and the streets were empty, and that’s when I came up with much of the mood and setting of Bad Glass. And really, mood and setting are a huge part of this novel. I also took a lot of photographs, and descriptions of some of those photos actually made it into the book.

I also boned up on computer networks, photography, psychology, and a little bit of physics.

TQ: Who was the easiest character to write and why? Hardest and why?

Richard: My main character, Dean, was pretty easy for me to write. He’s an aspiring, unpublished photographer looking desperately for his big break, and when I was writing Bad Glass I was an aspiring, unpublished writer looking desperately for my big break. So getting into his head and expressing his hopes and dreams and fears was a fairly easy task. I hope that those parts come across as truthful and deeply-felt, because I really think that that’s a snapshot of where I was just a couple of years ago.

The hardest character for me to write was probably Floyd. And not because he was difficult for me to relate to, but because I really liked him a great deal, and I felt like absolute crap for all of the horrible things I put him through. Really, he’s a nice, likable guy, and I do not treat him well.

Richard: Probably Dean’s meeting with Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Cob Gilles. It’s an interesting (and at times incoherent) exchange, and I think, in this venerable elder, Dean sees his dreams reflected and laid bare. And it gives him a lot to think about.

TQ: What's next?

Richard: I’m working on a new, unrelated novel. It’s still pretty early in the process, though, so I don’t want to reveal too much. I’m also hoping to work on some more short fiction soon.

TQ: Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Richard: Thanks for having me! And thanks for including Bad Glass in your Debut Author Challenge!

About Bad Glass

Bad Glass

Del Rey, September 25, 2012
Trade Paperback and eBook, 432 pages

One of the most hauntingly original dark fantasy debuts in years—perfect for fans of Lost and Mark Danielewski’s cult classic, House of Leaves.

Something has happened in Spokane. The military has evacuated the city
and locked it down. Even so, disturbing rumors and images seep out,
finding their way onto the Internet, spreading curiosity, skepticism,
and panic. For what they show is—or should be—impossible: strange
creatures that cannot exist, sudden disappearances that violate the laws
of physics, human bodies fused with inanimate objects, trapped yet
still half alive. . . .

Dean Walker, an aspiring photographer, sneaks into the quarantined city
in search of fame. What he finds will change him in unimaginable ways.
Hooking up with a group of outcasts led by a beautiful young woman named
Taylor, Dean embarks on a journey into the heart of a mystery whose
philosophical implications are as terrifying as its physical
manifestations. Even as he falls in love with Taylor—a woman as damaged
and seductive as the city itself—his already tenuous hold on reality
starts to come loose. Or perhaps it is Spokane’s grip on the world that
is coming undone.

Now, caught up in a web of interlacing secrets and betrayals, Dean,
Taylor, and their friends must make their way through this ever-shifting
maze of a city, a city that is actively hunting them down, herding them
toward a shocking destiny.

Richard E. Gropp lives on a mountain outside of Seattle with his partner of fifteen years. It is a small mountain. He studied literature and psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and has worked as a bookstore clerk, a forklift driver, and an accountant. He has a hard time spelling the word broccoli, and in his spare time he dabbles in photography and cooking.

What: Three commenters will each win a copy of Bad Glass from Random House! US/Canada ONLY

How: Answer the following question:

What is one of your favorite apocalyptic or "weird city" stories?

(stories = novels, comics, short stories, movies, etc.)

Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1) Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2) Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you
mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry.
You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on
Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

There are a total of 3 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry),
Follower (+1 entry) and Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry). This is
subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook or Twitter mentions. You MUST leave a way to contact you.

Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a US or Canadian mailing
address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Thursday, October 4, 2012. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase
necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Please welcome Chris F. Holm to The Qwillery again. Earlier this year Chris blogged and was interviewed as part of the 2012 Debut Author Challenge. Chris' second novel in The Collector series, The Wrong Goodbye, was published on September 25th in the US and Canada.

TQ: Welcome back to The Qwillery!

Chris: Thanks so much for having me!

TQ: What do you wish you'd known when the 1st book, Dead Harvest, came out that you know now?

Chris: Truthfully, my publishing schedule's been so compressed, what with THE WRONG GOODBYE following DEAD HARVEST by a mere seven months, I'm not sure I'm a whole lot wiser than I was when my first book came out. What I am, I think, is considerably more disciplined, and maybe thicker-skinned.

I confess, the two months surrounding DEAD HARVEST's release, I was so distracted I didn't get much writing done. A good review would leave me flying high. The rare lousy one would lay me low for days. And the myriad guest posts, interviews, and podcasts became my focus -- my sole book-work -- rather than playing a support role to the writing itself.

Now, though, I have no such luxury. My deadline for book three, THE BIG REAP, is early next year, so I can't very well squander any writing time between now and then. I've had to learn to adapt. To write no matter what. And as a consequence, I've developed even more respect for those writers who make this roller-coaster appear effortless, and keep putting out good work year in and year out.

TQ: Please tell us something about The Wrong Goodbye (The Collector 2) that is not in the book description.

Chris: THE WRONG GOODBYE finds Sam diving down the rabbit-hole of the demon drug trade. And tangling with a giant, pissed-off bug-monster. And picking up an accidental sidekick who happens to be an undead Vegas mobster who, as it turns out, is dating a kickass blind transgendered fortune-teller. If I've done my job, it's a bigger, scarier, funnier novel than its predecessor, one that answers several questions left dangling at the end of DEAD HARVEST, as well as introducing a few more along the way.

TQ: Which character has surprised you the most in the series so far?

Chris: At risk of tipping my hand for stories yet to come, I'd have to say Lilith. Her character and motivations are so much more complex -- and more nuanced -- than I initially gave her credit for. The Lilith of myth, which is essentially the Lilith I'm writing, is the archetype for the femme fatale of classic crime pulp. You know, the kind of sexy, redheaded seductress that lays some bogus sob story on world-weary PI in an attempt to play him for her own gain. Only the more time I spend with her, the more I realize she didn't wind up that way of her own accord. She's been dealt a pretty lousy hand, and she's playing it for all it's worth. That makes her far more sympathetic of a character than I anticipated. And now that I have a sense of how that hand plays out, I'm damn excited to write it.

TQ: In a nutshell what is supernatural noir or urban fantasy noir? Are they the same thing?

Chris: Noir, to me, is more flavor than genre. And though definitions for noir are a dime a dozen, here's my short-and-sweet: noir is nothing more or less than bleak humanism. I'm talking shit options, bad decisions, and dire consequences. And it seems to me that flavor plays as well in the realm of the fantastic as it does with crime fiction.

As for the difference between supernatural noir and urban fantasy noir, my series has been called both, and that suits me just fine. For most folks, the terms are interchangeable. My only stumbling block is with the "urban" part, because I don't think it's an essential ingredient to the stories I'm telling. Much of THE WRONG GOODBYE takes place in the desert wilds of the American Southwest, or the Amazon rainforest. Very little of it happens in cities. But "urban fantasy" has become a catch-all term for fantasy that takes place in our modern world as opposed to, say, Tolkienian high fantasy, so it makes for a handy enough shorthand nonetheless -- my silly nitpicks aside.

TQ: Are there any other genres in which you would like to write?

Chris: Oh, heck yes. In fact, not too long ago, I finished a straight-up crime novel about a hitman who makes his living killing other hitmen. I've got a small-town-mystery-slash-ghost-story sitting on my shelf as well. I've been noodling a high-concept science-nerd thriller in the vein of Michael Crichton for years now. I'd love to write a comedic caper one of these days. And I'd be surprised if I never write a horror novel.

TQ: What's next?

Chris: Right now, I'm working on book three in the Collector series, THE BIG REAP. It should be out sometime next year. And after that, who knows? I'm a lousy judge of where this crazy writing-ride is taking me.

Sam’s job is to collect the souls of the damned, and ensure they are dispatched to the appropriate destination. But when he’s sent to collect the soul of a young woman he believes to be innocent of the horrific crime that’s doomed her to Hell, he says something no Collector has ever said before.

“No.”

File Under: Urban Fantasy [ Souled Out | Damned If You Don't | Collector Mania | On The Run ]

Chris F. Holm was born in Syracuse, New York, the grandson of a cop with a
penchant for crime fiction. He wrote his first story at the age of six. It got him sent to the principal’s office. Since then, his work has fared better, appearing in such publications as Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Needle Magazine, Beat to a Pulp, and Thuglit.

He’s been a Derringer Award finalist and a Spinetingler Award winner, and he’s also written a novel or two. He lives on the coast of Maine with his lovely wife and a noisy, noisy cat.

What: One commenter will win a copy of The Wrong Goodbye (The Collector 2) from The Qwillery.

How: Answer the following question:

Have you read any supernatural noir or any noir novels? If yes, name one.

If not, what is one of your favorite Urban Fantasy novels?

Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1) Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2) Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you
mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry.
You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on
Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

There are a total of 3 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry),
Follower (+1 entry) and Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry). This is
subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook or Twitter mentions. You MUST leave a way to contact you.

Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing
address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Wednesday, October 3, 2012. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase
necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

Please welcome Claire Ashgrove to The Qwillery. Immortal Surrender, the second novel in The Curse of the Templars series, is out today. Happy Publication Day to Claire!!

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for celebrating with me today, on the release of Immortal Surrender. I thought we’d kick things off the fun way and dive right in with a little interview from the heroine, Noelle.

Claire: In the beginning you didn’t believe in the Almighty. When did you realize and accept that you had started to believe?

Noelle: Well, it didn’t hurt any that I had a big strong hunk trying to hammer the truth into me for starters. Immersion learning? Yup. But really, that whole arm torc thing. There was a specific event that really made the truth impossible to ignore, even though I wanted to. Man, did I ever want to.

Claire: That begs the question, why?

Noelle: (She laughs softly.) What if it was all true: that I was paired with a guy who admitted he’d rather have a whore? Eternally paired. I didn’t want to like Farran, or fall in love. Not with such heartbreak promised.

Claire: At first you thought that all the Templar knights, plus Anne, were completely looney. What did you think of their "game" as you saw it?

Noelle: It was pretty ridiculous at first. Really, who would believe in knights who are immortal, led by archangels, fighting Azazel. Particularly if you were kidnapped—would you just jump in and say, “Okay, cool! Let’s go.”

Claire: ell us about Farran.

Noelle: He’s not going to hear about this is he? Don’t tell him I said so, but he’s just a big softie underneath that hard shell. He’s as tough-guy as they get, and I wouldn’t want to be the person who truly crossed him. But beyond all the armor, the sword, the fighting and commitment to duty… I couldn’t ask for a better man. It took us a while to get things all sorted into place. Now—he’d die for me, and I for him.

Claire: That’s really enviably sweet. Did you get the chance to know any of the other knights?

Noelle: A few yes. Merrick is ferocious with a sword. (Noelle chuckles.) Lucan is a bit unsettling, unless you like Chivalry and all of that. Which, trust me, I can do without. I ran into Tane here and there. I’m still meeting and learning names and faces. There’s so many, both here in the States and over in Europe.

Claire: How do you deal with the mixture of religion/belief and scientific fact? Does it affect your work?

Noelle: Science is still science. Nothing changes about chemical compositions and reactions. Amonia plus chlorine is still going to kill you if you breathe too much. For me, there’s just a different outlook in how it all came to be, and the universe we exist in. The supportive evidence, if you will. And shoot, it at least answers a few of the things I haven’t been able to prove with math and formulas. But that’s me. It may not work for everyone.

Farran de Clare, loyal member of the cursed Knights Templar, wants nothing to do with predestined mates. Even the Almighty won’t turn him into a fool again—he’d rather sacrifice his soul. Yet in the scientist Noelle Keane, a devout atheist, Farran meets the seraph designed for him.

Ordered by the archangel Gabriel to protect Noelle, the possessor of a sacred relic that could give Azazel incredible power, Farran swears to do his duty—but in name only. Fighting an attraction that grows with each day, he’s determined that he’ll never pledge himself to her.

As they war over her future, their mutual passion ignites a conflict far more damning. But before Noelle will agree to eternity with him, she demands the ultimate sacrifice – his heart.

“This series (The Curse of the Templars) is explosive, sexy, riveting, and Claire Ashgrove is a master of her craft.” ~ NYTimes Bestselling Author, Maggie Shayne

He stalked back to the bed. No longer concerned for her injuries, he snatched up her fingers and inspected the scar once more. Nay, his eyes did not play tricks. She bore a dagger on her hand. It matched his as if someone had miniaturized the eighteen-inch-long weapon and scalded it into her flesh.

She belonged to him.

The door opened, and Farran’s head snapped up. He returned Louise’s pleasant smile with a glare. “You may undress the wench.” He shouldered past the aging caretaker, ignoring the way she spluttered.

So Gabriel sought to pair him with a maid, did he? ‘Twas no wonder the archangel did not forewarn him of her nature. Gabriel well knew Farran would rather swallow his own sword.

He took the stairs two at a time, in desperate need of fresh air. His fingers twitched with the need to pummel something. A seraph! His seraph! God’s teeth, would he be allowed no mercy? Could he not just leave this world and be done with life?

In the wide front room, Farran braced his hands on the table and squeezed his eyes shut tight. Duty bound him to accept the pairing. With the oaths they were fated to take, the Templar would gain much needed strength. Much as he would like nothing more, he could not walk away from the woman in the bed upstairs.

And yet . . .he did not have to stay either.

“Brother? Is something amiss?” Lucan’s voice drifted down the stairs.

Farran turned around and raised his glower to Lucan’s face. “You will go to her apartment. Fetch her cat. Fetch her things. Deliver them all to Mikhail.”

Lucan’s gaze narrowed with suspicion. “I trust you do not seek to have the maid to yourself?”

“Nay!” God’s teeth, nay. He would no more touch her now than he would touch a snake. He would say his oath, deliver her to the temple, and leave with the first light.

Cocking his head, Lucan studied him. Slow dawning filtered into his expression, and he answered with a thoughtful nod. “You recognize her mark. I shall have her mate sent here.”

Farran exhaled through his teeth. At his thigh, he clenched a hand into a tight fist. “There is no need for such.”

“Farran, you cannot be serious. She must be paired at once. ’Tis written—”

“She is mine, Lucan.” With the vile truth exposed, Farran stormed out the door.

Centuries
ago, Templar knights defied the archangels and unearthed the copper
scroll that revealed the locations of the gates to hell. Cursed for
their forbidden act, they now roam the earth, protecting mankind from
evil. But darkness stalks them, and battles they fight bring them ever
closer to eternal damnation. One promise remains to give them
salvation—the return of the seraphs.

Embittered by his purpose, Merrick du Loire must honor an ancient pact
and bring peace to his cousin’s soul, releasing him from the clutches of
their enemy. When he stumbles upon history professor Anne MacPherson,
he discovers that she possesses a sacred artifact that marks her as a
seraph. Duty demands he set aside his personal quest and locate the
knight she’s fated to heal. As Merrick struggles with conflicting oaths,
Anne arouses buried hope and sparks forbidden desire that challenges
everything he’s sworn to uphold.

Anne has six weeks to complete her thesis on the Knights Templar. When
Merrick takes her to the Templar stronghold, he presents her with all
she needs—and awakens a soul-deep ache that he alone can soothe. Yet
loving Merrick comes with a price. If she admits she is destined for
him, her gift of foresight predicts his death.

Award-Winning Author Claire Ashgrove has been writing since her early teens and maintained the hobby for twenty years before deciding to leap into the professional world. Her first contemporary novel, Seduction's Stakes, sold to The Wild Rose Press in 2008, where she continues to write steamy, sexy stories for the Champagne and Black Rose lines. Adding to these critically acclaimed romances, Claire’s paranormal romance series, The Curse of the Templars debuted with Tor in January 2012. For those who prefer the more erotic side of romance, she also writes for Berkley Heat as the National Bestselling Author Tori St. Claire.

Claire lives in Missouri with her two sons and too-many horses, cats, and dogs. In her “free” time, she enjoys cooking, winning at Rummy, studying Ancient Civilizations, and spending quiet moments with her family, including the critters.

What: One commenter will win a copy of Immortal Surrender (The Curse of the Templars 2) from The Qwillery.

How: Answer the following questions:

Do you have any favorite stories, movies, comics that feature Knights

(Templar or other)?

Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1) Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2) Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you
mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry.
You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on
Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

There are a total of 3 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry),
Follower (+1 entry) and Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry). This is
subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook or Twitter mentions. You MUST leave a way to contact you.

Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing
address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Tuesday, October 2, 2012. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase
necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

*Giveaway rules are subject to change.*

Claire's Giveaway

Claire is giving away one digital copy of any one of her backlist books, excepting those in the Templar series, to one randomly drawn commenter at each stop on the blog tour. In addition, commenters’ names will be added into the tour-end drawing of a 25.00 Amazon gift card. Follow the tour – the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. Complete tour dates can be found here.

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